A 50-year-old public-school teacher and pr incipal born in 1867 in Chicago\, Mary Frances Willard was one of several thousand American women\, most of whom who were half her age\, who served as welfare workers for U.S. troops in France during World War I.
\nD uring her twelve months in France\, Willard wrote 52 letters - one a week for twelve months - in which she shared with family and friends back home stories of her activities as a canteen worker and district manager\; her d aily interactions with American servicemen\, troops from other countries\, and the French people\; and her travels - from Paris and the Pyrenees Mou ntains to the French Riviera and decimated towns and abandoned battlefield s along the Front in France and Belgium.
\nA resident of Highland Pa rk in her final years\, Willard died in 1961. Earlier this year\, \;Ji m \;Marquardt\, Professor of Politics and International Relations at L ake Forest College\, published Willard's letters and wrote the introductio n to \;Serving the Doughboy: Letters of a YMCA Worker in France\, 1918-19. \;
\nBooks will be for sale and the event will con clude with a book signing.
\nhttps://hplibrary.libnet.info/event/113967 95 URL;VALUE=URI:https://hplibrary.libnet.info/event/11396795 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR